Great night

last night at LeRoy. Rudy and Robert made the trip out and when Tony and I arrived, The silver Honda Fit was already there! What?, Rudy and Robert beat us to a race venue? Not only do they beat us in the race, they are now taking away what little thunder we do have and are beating us to the race itself....

When we pulled into the parking lot, they were coming back from a short warm up, Tony and I finished getting ready and off we all went to pre-ride the whole course, since Robert had not ridden it before. The conditions were pretty nice last night for the course. The wind was in the direction that was favorable for the ride up the hill and on the finishing stretch and the roads were dry after all the rain we had earlier in the day.

We saw a few more riders warming up when we were on the way back in to get ready for the start. After the sticks were drawn, I was first up and ready to go with Rudy next, Chris, Tony, Robert and rider #6. I went off and was feeling pretty good. My hr wasn't through the roof like it normally is on the start due to the slight uphill and once I crested it I settled into a nice rythym and was feeling good. Rode the hill section strong and came back down feeling good. Rounded the left hander and onto the finishing stretch and about 1.5 miles left and Rudy came by just haulin' a**, he looked very smooth and strong (as always) I tried to up the pace just a bit to keep him in sight til the finish and also motivate me to dig just a little bit deeper. The finishing stretch is basically flat with just a few small risers in it but for the most part, if the wind is right it is fast. Last night was pretty fast. I came across the finishing line at 33 mph. for an 18:16, 25.9 mph avg.

Rudy had the 3rd. fastest time ever on the course with a 16:53 and the fastest of the year so far! Robert went almost 1 mph. avg faster than he did at states and averaged 22.6 mph with a 20:46. Tony pr'd and said that his legs didn't feel all that well with an 18:13 for an avg. of 26 mph. I think the TT's are going to be a little different for Tony now with his new machine thanks to Rudy :-) THANK YOU AGAIN, your a great guy Rudy and we're proud to have you as our friend.

Thanks again as always to Jim Behrens for coming out every week and holding the race for us. He's always there despite the weather conditions. Jim's very committed and loves to see everyone have a good race. Thanks Jim.

A few pics.

Later